East Brookfield homeowner shoots bothersome bear

EAST BROOKFIELD — A 300-pound bear that was troubling a litter of puppies on Adams Road was shot and killed by a homeowner Tuesday.

A police spokesman said the bear had wandered into the yard and was bothering the homeowner's dogs, including a litter of small puppies. The resident, fearing for the safety of the puppies, eventually shot the bear.

Chief William Cournoyer and environmental police officers investigated and found the shooting was justified.

No charges will be filed, police said.

The shooting sparked a torrent of emotional comments when police posted a photograph of the dead bear on the department's Facebook page and urged residents to call police for assistance with nuisance wildlife.

"We have means to get them moving that are not lethal," police wrote on the Facebook posting.

Angry residents wondered in their comments on the Web page how the shooting could be justified, while others wrote that they understood the homeowner's actions. Within five hours, nearly 300 people had weighed in on the incident.

One Facebook user posted a photograph of the bear's head to illustrate its size while another shared a recipe for big bear stew.